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Best Instructional Videos: Autism Awareness

One in 66 people has a form of autism, a disorder of neural development. April is Autism Awareness Month, and to help teach students and educators about the condition, EducationWorld has rounded up three helpful videos below. Each includes a description and grade level, as well as the video’s capacity for engagement (“cool factor”).

Title:Forget What You Know - Jacob Barnett

Source: TEDxTeen

Grade level/audience:Middle school to high school students (avoid the comments section)

Run time:18:10

Description: This is a TED talk given by Jacob Barnett, a child diagnosed with severe autism at age 2. Barnett encourages people to think in their “own creative way.”

Cool factor:Barnett shows that an autism diagnosis can be viewed as something to celebrate.

Title: Understanding Autism: A Guide for Secondary School Teachers

Source: Research Autism

Grade level/audience:Teachers

Run time:18:33

Description: Preparing teachers to instruct students with the disorder, this video provides information on what autism is and how it affects individuals differently. The presentation is thorough, helping teachers understand that children with autism have challenges processing the environment around them.

Cool factor:This is a great place to start for helping instructors define autism and support children with the disorder in the classroom.

Title: I Want to Say

Source: Autism Speaks

Grade level/audience: Fifth grade and up

Run time: 27:11

Description: This short film shares the stories of a number of autistic students who communicate through touch technology. Part of the Autism Speaks initiative, this powerful piece chronicles the efforts of non-verbal students who are communicating for the first time.

Cool factor: What could be cooler than hearing and seeing the words of an otherwise non-communicative child for the first time? As one child types, “My mouth does not work in the same way. I have autism.”